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ASPECTS ON REWARMING NEWBORN INFANTS WITH SEVERE ACCIDENTAL HYPOTHERMIA
Author(s) -
TAFARI N.,
GENTZ J.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1974.tb04853.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hypothermia , accidental hypothermia , anesthesia , rectal temperature , saline , pediatrics
. Tafari, N. and Gentz, J. (Department of Paediatrics, Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa and the Department of Paediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, S:t Göran's Hospital for Children, Stockholm, Sweden). Aspects on rewarming infants with severe accidental hypothermia. Acta Paediatr Sad, 63: 595, 1974.—Thirty low birth weight infants with severe hypothermia corresponding to a rectal temperature of ≤32°C (range 26.0°C‐32.0°C) were studied. Fourteen infants were rewarmed according to a slow and 16 infants according to a fast procedure. The alleged disadvantages of fast warming over slow warming were not demonstrated. A significant fall in mortality was achieved in both groups following the intravenous administration of 0.15 M saline in a volume of 20 ml per kg bodyweight early in the rewarming procedure, from 9 out of 12 dead to 3 out of 18. The reason for this effect of saline infusion is not clear but extrapolating from induced hypothermia restoration of plasma volume is a possible explanation. Factors such as birthweight, degree and duration of hypothermia were also important in influencing survival. Although there was no difference between the two methods in the outcome in this material, analysis of temperatures recorded during rewarming (rectal, skin and environmental air temperature) showed that the rapidly warmed infants increased their body temperature as a result of net transfer of heat from the ambient air. In contrast, among the slowly warmed infants there was no demonstrable transfer of heat from the ambient air. It therefore appears that the rapid warming of infants with severe hypothermia may have the advantage of minimizing additional energy expenditure for heat production.